Modular building: A sustainable revolution

Last week we had a super interesting meeting with Finch Buildings , a highly passionate and modern Nord European company that works in the modular building field. Finch Buildings is developing a new construction system consisting of prefabricated modules that are suitable for every target group and application. We are part of this process as timber consultants and we took this opportunity to deepen this incredible and hugely sustainable way of building and living.

Finch Building’s mission and vision

Finch Building’s mission is to make high-quality modular buildings for every application to fight climate change through modular and sustainable systems. Climate change is undoubtedly the challenge of this century and the goal, after seeing what is happening around the world, is to build better, in a more sustainable and fast way. Modular building is a valid solution to this incredible challenge since it uses sustainable and environmentally friendly materials (the impact of timber in decarbonizing the building industry is undeniable), is mainly built inside the factory, and then transported to the location avoiding a lot of waste of material and time.

What is the role of modular building and can modular be the future?

Surely modular is not going to be just a niche. Modular buildings are going to be widely accepted and used for different purposes even if, clearly, the market won’t be just modular. The building industry in the future will be a blend of different types of buildings. The most important thing is to accept the fact that we must implement modular where modular can be the best solution. Talking about solutions is impossible not to highlight that modular technology is an excellent, if not the best, answer to the shortage of affordable houses. Finch Buildings is aware that there will always be something you cannot do with modules, but this will not stop the firm from developing high-quality wooden modules suitable for every target and application.

What are the biggest and most important advantages of modular building?

The biggest advantage of this highly sustainable way of building is the velocity and the concept of flexibility. When talking about velocity and flexibility we mean that you can move all the modules with ease. Making and assembling the modules directly in the factory and not on-site allows us to build them making sure that resources are used more effectively and up to three times faster than traditional construction methods. To guarantee this characteristic aspect it is necessary to study and engineer all the parts that compose the modules, every single detail. Connections, for example, have to be deeply studied to be secure but also, should permit disconnecting each part of the whole building.

Connection design was a part of our scope of work

The collaboration between the Dutch firm and Ergodomus has focused on some indispensable analysis of the entire Tuifluiter project, a residential modular building located in Heerhugowaard (North Holland).

The first and most relevant operation has been a deep structural analysis including a calculation of all the forces acting on the structure (wind, earthquake, live load, dead load, etc…). Within the structural analysis, Ergodomus focused on the accidental analysis simulating a progressive collapse caused by the collapse of a beam. Studying the robustness of a structure is highly important and meaningful since the life safety of the building occupants is a priority and should not be compromised for any reason. Regarding the safety of the occupants, moreover, the whole structure has been designed considering?60 minutes fire rating. This operation was a great successful challenge given the modularity of the building.

Another field where Ergodomus had an impactful role was the value engineering process. Our skills made it possible to carefully compare dozens of different solutions and choose the most effective taking into account the various phases: production, transport, and installation. A special focus had to be given to logistics, in fact, especially in modular, it plays a fundamental role as the modules, in terms of size, determine the transport methods on site and the related costs.

Moreover, Finch and Ergodomus joined their knowledge and skills for the development of unique and tailor-made steel connections. Connections are a fundamental part of every project when talking about modular. Developing, engineering, and adopting the best connection permits a noticeable reduction of several aspects such as time and costs: this is why it can easily be considered one of the most important parts of each module.

These bespoken connections, in fact, deeply influence the whole stability of the building and, returning to advantages, the possibility to disassemble each module and reassemble them somewhere else in the future. Finch Buildings decided to collaborate for the designing of this crucial part of each module with Ergodomus given the company’s experience, competence, and know-how in this field.

Finally, innovating and developing new ways of building, highlighting their benefits both on people's lives and on the environment, assumes a fundamental role in this century where climate change is the biggest issue. It is equally important, however, to remember that behind every project, no matter how ambitious and innovative it is, there must be skilled and experienced teams facing important technical challenges.

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